The Hutchinson City Council Tuesday night unanimously approved allowing a “Huey” helicopter to be placed in McLeod County Veterans Memorial Park.

Local veterans had been asking the city to allow placing a Bell UH-1 Vietnam era war bird in the park for some time, and they say last night’s approval will better their chances of getting one. Hutchinson Vietnam Veteran Dave Skoog says they’ve been trying to get a Huey for seven years.

There had been some concern by members of the council about putting more machines in the park and they discussed possibly putting the helicopter at the airport to prevent overcrowding. The park already has an M-60 tank.

On learning that changing the placement of the Huey would basically cause the procurement process to start all over, the council quickly passed the motion to allow the request.